"This blog-a-thon submission comes from Joseph Kerski of the National Council of Geographic Education (2011 President). Joseph writes about why geography education matters and how it applies to each one of us."

Geography, is a subject where it takes all the skills from science, math, English, and social studies, and combines it into a in depth thinking class. It makes you find the problem, fix it and tell how and why you fixed it . For example, a crop is not growing in a dry area, then you try it in a wet area and it grows, now you have to find out why it grows in a wet area and not a dry area and explain why. It is good to start out early learning about the basics in the core classes then later in the more advance classes, to understand how to fix a problem.

Short, sweet and to the point--this video is a great way to show the historical geographies of major world religions. What are the cultural barriers to the diffusion of one of these particular religions? What geographic factors helped to facilitate the expansion of one of these world religions?

Short, sweet and to the point--this video is a great way to show the historical geographies of major world religions. What are the cultural barriers to the diffusion of one of these particular religions? What geographic factors helped to facilitate the expansion of one of these world religions?

Short, sweet and to the point--this video is a great way to show the historical geographies of major world religions. What are the cultural barriers to the diffusion of one of these particular religions? What geographic factors helped to facilitate the expansion of one of these world religions?

Short, sweet and to the point--this video is a great way to show the historical geographies of major world religions. What are the cultural barriers to the diffusion of one of these particular religions? What geographic factors helped to facilitate the expansion of one of these world religions?

The world's population is projected to reach 11 billion by the end of the century. Feeding that many people will be a challenge, and it is further complicated by the impact of climate change on agriculture. That is why some people advocate an unusual way to boost the food supply and feed people sustainably: by eating less meat, and more insects.

While it might make economic, nutritional, and environmental sense, I'm sure that many are squeamish at the idea of insects primarily because in violates many deeply engrained cultural taboos. The main reasons listed in the video for promoting the production and consumption of more insects:

Insects are healthier than meat.

It is cheap (or free) to raise insects.

Raising insects is more sustainable than livestock.

Questions to Ponder: Would you be willing to try eating insects? How do you think this idea would go over with your family and friends? What cultural barriers might slow the diffusion of this practice?

When speaking of sustainability, many seek new options, new and more efficient—productively speaking—ways of exploiting resources, different types of energies to make up for the missing future expected quota. However, at not point do they seem to ask themselves what makes inefficiency be the norm, and scarcity the automatic reason to why we need more. The solution is right there, in front of our eyes, and not necessarily in the form of insects., though under the current monetary and economic paradigm, that may seem like a good option.

Like many early religious traditions, Ramadan is observed based on measurements from the moon and sun. The start of Ramadan is determined by the sighting of the new moon, which moves about 11 days back in the Gregorian calendar each year. During Ramadan the consumption of food and water is prohibited between dawn and dusk, how do Muslims observing the fast manage in the far north of Scandinavia, where the sun never sets in the summertime (in 2015, Ramadan is from June 17 to July 17)? Some Muslims in the West (and north) argue that ancient customs from the Arabian desert need updating now that the religion has diffused beyond the Middle East.

"It’s not just a sausage in a bun; it’s a beautiful blank canvas. It’s a hot dog, which is a foodstuff eaten worldwide. Here are 40 distinctive varieties from around the globe — from iconic NYC 'dirty water dogs' to fully loaded South American street-cart dogs to Japanese octo-dogs. There is a tubesteak out there for every craving that ever was."

The 4th of July is the day of Coney Island's Hot Dog eating contest and the quintessential day to have a barbeque in the United States. Some see the hot dog as a mere symbol of the uniformity of globalized culture in the 21st century that diffused out from the United States. There is much more to be seen in the globalization of food. Yes, the global goes to the whole world, but distinct places make this global cultural trait intensely local. For example the hot dogs in Cincinnati are famous for being topped with chili and an obscene quantity of cheese, but in Costa Rica, I learned to love eating hot dogs deep fried, topped with cabbage, mayo and ketchup, just like the Ticos. Food is but one example of this phenomena known as glocalization, where diffusion and divergence keep the world both global and local.

This is a great juxtaposition of communal identities. Before becoming a part of Canada, this was the Cathedral of St. James. As a part of the British Empire, places such as Victoria Square became a part of the Montreal landscape. In what appears to me as a symbolic strike back against the British Monarchy's supremacy, this Cathedral is renamed Marie-Reine-du-Monde (Mary, Queen of the World). The fact that the Hotel Queen Elizabeth is looming overhead only heightens the tensions regarding whose queen reigns supreme; this isn't the real issue. The dueling queens served as a proxy for tensions between British political control and French cultural identity in Quebec several generations ago.

I was recently in Montreal; my last few Instagram posts aren't the prettiest pictures of my time in Canada. I tried to select images that represented geographic concepts and would be the things I'd mention if we were on a walking tour of the city.

Ask any teenager for directions and he can pull up Google Maps quicker than you can recite an address. Pretty awesome, right? And I’ll be the first to admit that having a map in my phone that not only tells me where to turn but how long it will take me to get there is pretty amazing. I use it all the time, honestly. But even when I’m zoning out and listening to that soothing voice telling me where to turn, I have a mental picture in my head of her directions. And I never realized that my teenage daughter doesn’t have a map in her head, because she’s never really had to use one. Ever.

Many of the more fortunate students (access to portable electronic devices, multi-car families with parents who drive them around, etc.) are actually worse off in map reading skills in part because they have never needed to develop a mental map and are not adept at navigating their neighborhoods (in the last few generations most and the range that part). When these children become drivers, they are unable to navigate without GPS devices, but they still need to learn map reading skills. They are convinced that their apps can do all the work and that an old fashioned paper map is outdated technology, but their spatial thinking skills become atrophied. Spatial skills are crucial for understanding the world as a global citizen, to understand your local environs and for making scientific discoveries. So teach a kid how to read a map...the sooner the better.

Many of the more fortunate students (access to portable electronic devices, multi-car families with parents who drive them around, etc.) are actually worse off in map reading skills in part because they have never needed to develop a mental map and are not adept at navigating their neighborhoods (in the last few generations most and the range that part). When these children become drivers, they are unable to navigate without GPS devices, but they still need to learn map reading skills. They are convinced that their apps can do all the work and that an old fashioned paper map is outdated technology, but their spatial thinking skills become atrophied. Spatial skills are crucial for understanding the world as a global citizen, to understand your local environs and for making scientific discoveries. So teach a kid how to read a map...the sooner the better.

Many of the more fortunate students (access to portable electronic devices, multi-car families with parents who drive them around, etc.) are actually worse off in map reading skills in part because they have never needed to develop a mental map and are not adept at navigating their neighborhoods (in the last few generations most and the range that part). When these children become drivers, they are unable to navigate without GPS devices, but they still need to learn map reading skills. They are convinced that their apps can do all the work and that an old fashioned paper map is outdated technology, but their spatial thinking skills become atrophied. Spatial skills are crucial for understanding the world as a global citizen, to understand your local environs and for making scientific discoveries. So teach a kid how to read a map...the sooner the better.

Some of these are awfully, some are unintentionally awesome, but I think the one above might be even better than that. It's as if the cartographer in this one is purposefully making that gives us no knew information in the least informative way possible on purpose to make a snarky critique on the abundance of ill-conceived maps out there.

This 11 minute video from the archives is a great profile of a community in flux. Orange County, Florida was transitioning from an agricultural region off the grid to a largest tourist destination in the United States. Obviously, the community's economic geography completely transformed, but the cultural shift to the region was equally drastic. Since Disney today is such a well-known brand and so many students have been to Disney World, they will enjoy seeing what the community was like before it became an entertainment mecca.

Field Trips in a National Park can be an incredible experience in a outstanding learning environment. The National Park Service has produced many lesson plans, videos, distant learning programs, and resources for teachers to give them opportunities to experience the National Parks online. These resources are available for a wide range of subjects and grade levels. Where is the nearest U.S. National Park to your community?

Food waste is a tragedy that we all know happens, but the economic system does not work efficiently to maximize the global food production (Disclaimer: it is HBO's John Oliver, so there is some language and references that might not be appropriate for all audiences).

Food waste is a tragedy that we all know happens, but the economic system does not work efficiently to maximize the global food production (Disclaimer: it is HBO's John Oliver, so there is some language and references that might not be appropriate for all audiences).

Food waste is a tragedy that we all know happens, but the economic system does not work efficiently to maximize the global food production (Disclaimer: it is HBO's John Oliver, so there is some language and references that might not be appropriate for all audiences).

Food waste is a tragedy that we all know happens, but the economic system does not work efficiently to maximize the global food production (Disclaimer: it is HBO's John Oliver, so there is some language and references that might not be appropriate for all audiences).

When the giant fault line along the Pacific Northwest ruptures, it could be our worst natural disaster ever.

The Cascadia subduction zone remained hidden from us for so long because we could not see deep enough into the past. It poses a danger to us today because we have not thought deeply enough about the future. The Cascadia situation, a calamity in its own right, is also a parable for this age of ecological reckoning, and the questions it raises are ones that we all now face. How should a society respond to a looming crisis of uncertain timing but of catastrophic proportions? How can it begin to right itself when its entire infrastructure and culture developed in a way that leaves it profoundly vulnerable to natural disaster?

This is a long read but well worth the time. "The really big one," an earthquake in the Pacific Northwest over 8.0, last happened in 1700, but seismologists know that the geological pressure on the fault lines have been building since then. This in not a panic-inducing article, but one reminding people that the most potent natural disasters operate on cycles much longer than our lifetimes.

This is a long read but well worth the time. "The really big one," an earthquake in the Pacific Northwest over 8.0, last happened in 1700, but seismologists know that the geological pressure on the fault lines have been building since then. This in not a panic-inducing article, but one reminding people that the most potent natural disasters operate on cycles much longer than our lifetimes.

Excellent article with examples for exploring the ways in which maps can fail or mislead us. This is particularly important considering how easily maps can be created by anyone through the availability of digital resources.

"Yesterday the United States Women’s Soccer Team defeated Japan 5-2 in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final in Vancouver, claiming their third world title. The event was watched by soccer fans around the country, and was called a “ratings knockout” but couldn't come close to those drawn by men’s soccer in Brazil last summer...while some states have made great strides in reducing this gender gap, others still have great inequity that needs to be addressed to effectively celebrate and give potential American female athletes the opportunities they deserve to succeed."

Sports are an example of how women are not viewed as equal to men. And in certain ways women are definitely not the same in this area. Men do have more natural upper body strength and do create larger amounts of points and point gaps between that of women and men. However, that does not make it right for women to get less funding than men, or for women to have to work harder to achieve the same goals as men.

This article talks about how not many men are interested in watching women’s sport. I think gender inequity is a major problem in general, not only in sports. Police officers are mostly men as well, as well as many high ranked jobs. We just need to keep working on it as a nation and think that the women who are being discriminated are women of our nation.

Alex, I worked for a Chief that allowed job sharing, so that women officers who wanted to do so could share a job with both getting benefits, but only working part-time in order to have more time with family. It was a great way to improve the ratio of male to female officers.

A big portion of China's economic boom the last few decades has been linked to the transformation of what used to be a predominantly agrarian civilization to an economic engine fueled by rapid urbanization. This 2011 video from the Economist is still highly relevant today.

My 10 year-old daughter was looking in our atlas a while back (yes, she is my daughter) and in the encyclopedic entry of each country she started noticing that literacy rates were included. She started asking about which regions had higher and lower literacy rates. This became a teaching moment about the power of the map--I explained that all this data can be more easily accessed and seen on a map and this interactive map is what we discovered. We need to help student find the maps and data to answer their questions (and we need to make sure that they are curious enough to ask questions about the way the world works).

My 10 year-old daughter was looking in our atlas a while back (yes, she is my daughter) and in the encyclopedic entry of each country she started noticing that literacy rates were included. She started asking about which regions had higher and lower literacy rates. This became a teaching moment about the power of the map--I explained that all this data can be more easily accessed and seen on a map and this interactive map is what we discovered. We need to help student find the maps and data to answer their questions (and we need to make sure that they are curious enough to ask questions about the way the world works).

On July 31st India and Bangladesh will exchange 162 parcels of land, each of which happens to lie on the wrong side of the Indo-Bangladesh border. The end of these enclaves follows an agreement made between India and Bangladesh on June 6th. The territories along the world’s craziest border include the pièce de résistance of strange geography: the world’s only “counter-counter-enclave”: a patch of India surrounded by Bangladeshi territory, inside an Indian enclave within Bangladesh. How did the enclaves come into existence?The enclaves are invisible on most maps; most are invisible on the ground too. But they became an evident problem for their 50,000-odd inhabitants with the emergence of passport and visa controls. Independent India and Bangladesh—part of Pakistan until 1971—each refused to let the other administer its exclaves, leaving their people effectively stateless.According to Reece Jones, a political geographer, the plots were cut from larger territories by treaties signed in 1711 and 1713 between the maharaja of Cooch Behar and the Mughal emperor in Delhi, bringing to an end a series of minor wars.It was partition, the division of India and Pakistan, that turned the enclaves into a no-man’s-land. The Hindu maharaja of Cooch Behar chose to join India in 1949 and he brought with him the ex-Mughal, ex-British possessions he inherited. Enclaves on the other side of the new border were swallowed (but not digested) by East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh.

Excellent article with examples for exploring the ways in which maps can fail or mislead us. This is particularly important considering how easily maps can be created by anyone through the availability of digital resources.

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